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Swimming With Turtles

Before we left for Maui, I came up with a list of 10 Things To Do In Maui, one of which included having a snorkel in Turtle Town. We didn’t end up going there but instead found an even better spot in Lahaina. Black Rock, located at the north end of Kaanapali Beach is accessible through the Sheraton Maui Resort. Doesn’t the sand look so warm and inviting? Perfect for walking barefoot on. But I assure you the sand isn’t warm, it’s bloody hot and you can easily burn the bottoms of your feet if you’re not careful!

In the beginning I was a bit shy about going in the water — we were the only couple decked out in full length 3mm wet suits and massive black fins. Dork alert! But the sun was so hot against our bare skin I was happy to have my entire body protected whilst in the water. No amount of sun cream can protect you from the burning rays and I assure you those in skimpy swimming costumes ended up getting sunburnt and are peeling right about now.

We were in the water for about an hour and it was nice, but not as interesting as Cairns. I was getting ready to swim back to shore when the hubs, having forgot to use the scuba sign for turtle, started calling for me to swim back, and yelled, TURTLE! Not that we wanted to keep the turtle sighting to ourselves, but it would have been nice to admire them without a flock of people rushing toward them. Ufufu. People would have eventually noticed them in any case as there were three of them and they were massive!

Swimming with honu in Black Rock, Kaanapali Beach, Maui

I feel so blessed to have finally swam with sea turtles and to have seen them so early on in our trip — my Maui dream come true. The photos don’t do the beautiful and majestic honu (green sea turtles) justice but they bring back very fond memories. One even swam straight up to me! It was the perfect start to our holiday!